Panel recommends 30-percent raise for Quincy mayor

A special commission led by Easton’s town administrator says Quincy’s mayor is due for a raise, as are all of the city’s department heads. The five-member group, appointed by Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch, on Monday recommended $340,972 in raises for 67 city employees, including a 30-percent bump for the mayor that would increase his salary from $122,474 to $160,000.

By Patrick Ronan

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

By Patrick Ronan

Posted Nov. 26, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 26, 2013 at 10:42 AM

By Patrick Ronan

Posted Nov. 26, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 26, 2013 at 10:42 AM

QUINCY

» Social News

Easton’s population and operating budget are about a quarter of the size of Quincy’s, yet the head of Easton’s government earns about $30,000 more per year than Quincy’s mayor.

A special commission led by Easton’s town administrator says Quincy’s mayor is due for a raise, as are all of the city’s department heads. The five-member group on Monday recommended $340,972 in raises for 67 city employees, including a 30 percent bump for the mayor that would increase his salary from $122,474 to $160,000.

“If the city is going to hire, attract and retain people at the top of their game, which is what I think the people of Quincy deserve, then they really need to make sure there are up-to-date job descriptions (and) the salary ranges are on point and (at) the right level,” Easton Town Administrator David Colton said.

Colton, a former Quincy public works director, was one of five people appointed by Mayor Thomas Koch to study the salaries for Quincy’s non-union workers, compare them to other communities, then recommend changes.

Although most of Quincy’s department heads got 3 percent raises for the current fiscal year, which started July 1, Koch said their last pay increase before that came five years ago. The mayor, responsible for drafting the city budget, said he will pore over the commission’s report before making his own suggestions to the city council, which ultimately approves the budget.

Koch said the commission’s recommendation for his salary is “aggressive,” although he noted that he hasn’t had a raise since taking office in 2008.

“I don’t know if I’ll adopt it as suggested,” Koch said of the proposal to raise his salary by $37,526. “If I were to agree with it, I would probably do it over time and not all in one shot.”

Colton said the commission looked at municipal salaries throughout eastern Massachusetts, and it found Somerville to be the most like Quincy in terms of its population and socioeconomic makeup. Somerville’s mayor earns a salary of $145,000.

A Patriot Ledger review of municipal salaries earlier this year found that town managers or town administrators in Hull, Scituate and Hingham each earn at least $24,000 more per year than Quincy’s mayor.

In its report, the Quincy salary commission also recommended that the city clerk receive a raise of 15 percent. Last week, the city council appointed Joseph Shea, city clerk since 1992, to another three-year term.